While Mumbai Indians (MI) are going through a horrendous Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022, the lack of wickets for their bowling spearhead Jasprit Bumrah is also a troubling sign for Team India ahead of T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia. Bumrah has taken just five wickets from eight games which includes a three-wicket haul. The fast bowler has gone wicketless in five games in the season so far.
Amidst a lean patch for the MI star player, former Pakistan pacer Aaqib Javed has said that he is not as aggressive as Shaheen Afridi.
“The way Haris has bowled in the last few years, his average bowling speed is the fastest in the world. And the aggression he has, the way he runs, the batsman knows that the bowler is running towards him, but Bumrah's isn't that aggressive,” Pakistan’s 1992 World Cup-winning member told Paktv.tv.
And people enjoy these kind of bowlers who have such body language. Shaheen's graph is on the rise, while Bumrah is stable. He has less threatening performances than Shaheen, whether it's in T20s, ODIs or in Tests. And the rise of Pakistan cricket largely has depended on performances from Shaheen, Haris Rauf, Shadab Khan, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan,” the 49-year-old said.
In the ongoing season, Bumrah has not been too expensive but has an average of 45.80. The last time he had an average over 40 was in 2015 when he did not get enough games to play for the Rohit Sharma-led side.
Performance in T20 WC
Similarly, Bumrah was not at his best in the T20 World Cup 2021 where India made an early exit after losses to Pakistan and New Zealand. On the other hand, Afridi bowled a sensational spell against India to wreck their top order. Also, Rauf was impressive with his bowling in slog overs as he bowled with an economy rate of 6.25 runs per over. He also got the wicket of hard-hitting Hardik Pandya.
Javed's numbers for Pakistan
Javed has represented Pakistan in 22 Tests and 163 ODIs taking 54 and 182 wickets respectively. His best bowling figures of 7/37 came against India in the Wills Trophy final at Sharjah in 1991.
